Loom shuttle

ABSTRACT

A composite loom shuttle of lightweight construction having increased sidewall rigidity for use in high-speed looms with high-pressure shuttle-box-braking forces.

United States Patent Inventors Marcel J. Dupre 1,189,476 Mar. 18, 1965 German Application (l-lanle) 139 7/1948 Williams 139/ 1 96 2/1957 Neely 139/196 2/1958 Heard. 139/196 10/1965 Naul 139/196 FOREIGN PATENTS l/1953 Belgium l39/196 10/1958 Belgium 28/Polyolefin 11/1963 Great Britain 139/196 5/1960 Italy 139/196 OTHER REFERENCES Primary Examiner-James Kee Chi AttorneyJohn R. Bronaugh ABSTRACT: A composite loom shuttle of lightweight construction having increased sidewall rigidity for use in highspeed looms with high-pressure shuttle-box-braking forces.

. PATENTEUFEBNISYI INVE R I MAR & DUP

BY DAV] .DAUBNEY ATTORNEY LooM snu'rrrn BACKGROUND or THE INv NrioN I The invention pertains to an improved'loom shuttle having molded end portions and laminated sidewalls that provide a relatively lightweight shuttle for high-speed looms and greater stiffness for withstanding the increased shuttle-box-braking forces of such looms. f

Numerous forms of molded and laminated shuttles have been successfully utilized in what is considered the older and slower models of looms havingconventional shuttle boxes which include the well known pivoting binder. With these looms approximately 75 percent of the braking force is taken up, by the picker which is assembled on the upper end of the picker stick and the remaining 25 percent by the pivoting binder.

When looms were built to operateat greater speeds, the conventional form of shuttle boxing was not adequate for considerabletime and effort was required to maintain the necessary shuttle box settings to prevent a shuttle from rebounding after being received therein.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,764 to G. S. Robinson shows and describes the type of binder control mechanism which was adapted for use on high-speed fly-shuttle looms, With this form of binder control, approximately '75 percent of the braking force is taken up by thebinder and the remaining 25 percent by the picker. Shuttle boxing was substantially improved with this binder control mechanism; however, with the larger percentage of the braking force being applied to the shuttle by the binder, the known typesof shuttlesdo not possess sufficient rigidity to displace the binder during boxing. During boxing of a shuttle, the binder must be pushed outwardly a sufficicnt distance to cause the linkage cooperating therewith to lift the dagger so as toclear thefrog and prevent loom bangofl, all of which is wellzknown to those conversant in the art.

With conventional shuttles of either wood or molded construction, the binder pressure is great enough to compress the shuttle sidewalls and the linkage cooperating with said binder fails to be activated resulting in a condition .of under undesired banging-off of the loom.

The composite loom shuttle according to the instant invention has eliminated this .condition by providing a shuttle with molded end portions interconnected by laminated sidewalls that possess substantially greater rigidity relative to known types of shuttles. Additionally this shuttle is fabricated from lightweight materials and serves to keep the weight of the shuttle mass at a minimum whichis considered beneficial, for a heavy shuttle requires more picking power to propel it through the warp shed. Also what is considered a heavy shuttle requires additional braking action on the part of the shuttle box resulting in the problem of heat generation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The composite loom shuttle of the present invention includes molded end portions fabricated from polyolefm which is a lightweight homogeneous material of the polyethelene family. This homogeneous material aside from being lightweight has eliminated the problem of cracks developing and material separation in said end portions which in the past were formed by layers of fabric. reinforced thermosetting phenolic resin bonded together.

tion and having greater sidewall rigidity than known shuttles of the prior art.

Brief Description of the Drawing FIG. 1 is a plan view of a loom shuttle showing the various laminating elements of the side walls which are disposed in accordance with a preferred form of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional viewtaken along line 2-2 in FIG. I; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing, a shuttle generally indicated by numeral 10 is shown in FIG. 1 and being of multiple-piece construction includes end portions or blocks 11 and 12 which are interconnected by laterally spaced and opposed laminated sidewalls identified generally by numerals l3 and 14.

The opening disposed intermediate the spaced sidewalls l3 and 14 and the end blocks 11 and 12 forrn a bobbin cavity 15. End block 11 suppom a conventional bobbin spring 16 which extends into cavity 15 and end block 12 is formed for supporting a shuttle eye 17. Each of the end blocks 11 and 12 has the usual shuttle spur or tip 18 fixed in the outer end thereof.

As an important feature of the invention, the end blocks 11 and 12 are molded from a lightweight homogeneous material such as polyolefin which is a member of the polyethelene family. This material in combination with the laminated sidewalls l3 and 14, which hereinafter will be further described, provides a shuttle .of desired weight and one that does not lend itself to splitting and material separation such as has been experienced with the laminated end blocks of the prior art.

The sidewalls l3 and 14 are both fabricated in a like manner and for the purpose of brevity only sidewall 14 will be described in detail.- This. sidewall includes a core 19 of a lightweight material such as wood and sheets of fiber glass 20 and 21 are bonded to each side of saidcore. The fiber glass sheets 20 and 21 extend for the full length of the sidewalls and further include exterior surfaces. 22' and 23 of fabric reinforced thermosetting resin. The end blocks and laminated sidewalls are all bonded together so as to form a shuttle of unitary structure.

In operation the shuttle is caused to travel to and fro through the sheds formed by warp threads in a well-known manner. Due to the lightness of the shuttle, it is able to withstand speeds substantially greater than shuttles of the prior art without presenting an undesired heating-up condition.

Additionally the increased stiffness or rigidity of the shuttle permits a greater percentage of the shuttle-box-braking force to be exerted by the binder rather than being absorbed by the picker. This stiffness is sufiicient to prevent compression of the shuttle and unintended loom bangoff that resulted by failure of the dagger to clear the loom frog.

We claim:

1. A composite loom shuttle blank having molded end blocks formed of a lightweight homogeneous material and opposed laminated sidewalls-interconnecting said end portions, said laminated sidewalls each comprising a plurality of substantially coextensive sheets extending substantially the full length of said sidewall, said plurality of sheets including:

a. at least a pair of sheets of fiber glass;

b. a core sheet of lightweight material interposed between and bonded to said fiber glass sheets; and

c. exterior surface sheets of fabric reinforced thermosetting phenolic resin bonded to said fiber sheets to form with said core and fiber glass sheets sidewalls of unitary structure.

2. The composite loom shuttle according to claim 1 wherein said molded end blocks are fabricated from polyolefm a light weight homogeneous material of the polyethylene family. 

1. A composite loom shuttle blank having molded end blocks formed of a lightweight homogeneous material and opposed laminated sidewalls interconnecting said end portions, said laminated sidewalls each comprising a plurality of substantially coextensive sheets extending substantially the full length of said sidewall, said plurality of sheets including: a. at least a pair of sheets of fiber glass; b. a core sheet of lightweight material inteRposed between and bonded to said fiber glass sheets; and c. exterior surface sheets of fabric reinforced thermosetting phenolic resin bonded to said fiber sheets to form with said core and fiber glass sheets sidewalls of unitary structure.
 2. The composite loom shuttle according to claim 1 wherein said molded end blocks are fabricated from polyolefin a light weight homogeneous material of the polyethylene family. 